A man from Walsall was arrested in a series of dawn raids this morning as West Midlands Police executed warrants in connection with a string of thefts from museums and auction houses.

Three addresses were targeted in the Black Country - two in Bentley, Walsall, and one in Low Hitt, Wolverhampton - as part of the nationwide operation led by the Serious Organised Crime Agency.

Items stolen in a spate of thefts last year include precious Lord Nelson artefacts as well as Chinese antiquities and even a rhino horn.

A man in his 30s was arrested at one of the Walsall addresses on suspicion of committing burglary.

The raids, which include strikes in London, Sussex, Cambridgeshire, Essex and Northern Ireland, involved hundreds of officers.

Some of the items stolen from museums

They follow six burglaries over a four-month period last year at Durham Museum, Gorringes Auction House in East Sussex, Norwich Castle Museum and the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.

So far 12 people have been convicted and jailed for a total of more than 40 years for their roles in the break-ins ? but whilst much of the property was subsequently recovered, several high-value items are still missing.